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About the Role

The role

The Senior Lawyer will provide high quality legal services to clients in a culturally safe and appropriate manner within a trauma informed and multi-disciplinary framework.

This role delivers front line legal services and casework assistance and reports directly to the Managing Lawyer in the relevant knowmore office and assists that role in providing support, mentoring and professional supervision to other lawyers in the legal team. The role works collaboratively as a member of the national legal team and within knowmore’s multi-disciplinary model, working alongside other teams delivering intake, social work and cultural support services to clients. At times the role will also work with other partner services to support clients.

The role will advise clients who are survivors of child sexual abuse about redress and compensation options, including redress claims under the National Redress Scheme, and acting for clients making such claims. Senior Lawyers will manage a significant caseload, including more complex matters. Senior Lawyers will also contribute to knowmore’s policy and law reform work and prepare and deliver community legal education and participate in other community engagement activities, working cooperatively and collaboratively with other staff and service providers.

Guided by the organisation’s service plan, the role will involve intrastate and interstate travel to deliver services to clients on an outreach basis, and to undertake community engagement activities. Accordingly, a current drivers’ licence is highly desirable, along with the ability and willingness to travel, including to remote and regional locations for up to a week at a time, and to work out of hours.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

 Provide high quality advice and representation to clients in relation to the legal issues arising from their experience of sexual abuse, including in relation to their redress options, undertaking a significant caseload and working with clients with complex needs

 Support the Managing Lawyer to lead knowmore’s service delivery to clients in a local office and to work co-operatively with knowmore’s other teams to ensure clients’ legal and related needs are identified and actioned in an effective and consistent way and all timelines are met

 Contribute as a professional member of a national legal practice; ensuring compliance by self and supervised legal staff with professional and corporate responsibilities including the rules and requirements of relevant legal profession legislation and the Community Legal Centre Risk Management Guide

 Assist the Managing Lawyer in conducting regular file reviews and monitoring and contributing to the development and continuous improvement of service delivery standards, policies and precedents

 Ensure all relevant service data is recorded

 Support the development of effective working relationships and referral arrangements with other service providers

 Undertake legal research and drafting to support knowmore’s contributions to law reform and policy and procedural initiatives relating to its client group, including through the identification of issues arising from practice

 Assist in the preparation and delivery of community legal education and other engagement activities and materials, working cooperatively and collaboratively with non-legal service providers and other staff and external partners to raise awareness and provide information about knowmore’s services and common issues facing the client group

 Assist in the day-to-day supervision and coordination of the activities of volunteers and pro bono providers

 Proactively manage own self-care and workload, and model a commitment to self-care and resilience

 Act as the Managing Lawyer when required from time to time

 Undertake other duties and projects as directed

About the Organisation

Organisation Name : knowmore

knowmore was established by the National Association of Community Legal Centres in 2013 as a national, independent community legal service to provide free legal assistance to people engaging with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. From its inception, knowmore has delivered integrated, multi-disciplinary, trauma-informed and culturally safe services to survivors of child sexual abuse across Australia.

The Royal Commission handed down its final report in December 2017 and knowmore now has an important role in supporting implementation of the Commission’s recommendations. knowmore has secured funding of $37.9 million over the next three years to provide legal support services to survivors relating to their justice and redress options, including under the National Redress Scheme.

Services are provided by knowmore’s team of lawyers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Advisors, social workers, counsellors and operations staff through a national phone line and face-to-face services in key locations, supported by a comprehensive program of outreach and community engagement across Australia. Services are provided from a national network of offices currently located in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.